Simeon All Access | Transfers don't come without scrutiny at high-profile program

Left to right, Simeon's Russell Woods, Sean Moore and Donte Ingram were three of four transfers Simeon received this school year.

Nuccio DiNuzzo/Chicago Tribune

Nuccio DiNuzzo/Chicago Tribune

Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune reporter

The four boys basketball players who transferred to Simeon this season were far from the only student-athletes to forge a path to a new school, but their moves have not come without scrutiny.

According to Chicago Public Schools administrators, the Chicago Public League processed approximately 180 athletic transfers this school year, including an estimated 50 total boys and girls basketball players. At Simeon, Russell Woods and Sean Moore, both seniors, came from Leo, junior Jaycee Hillsman from Champaign St. Thomas More and junior Donte Ingram from Danville.

CPS handles rulings on transfers in the Public League, while the Illinois High School Association oversees the rest of the state. The Public League declared the four Simeon players eligible before the season, but the IHSA confirmed Friday it is reviewing the transfer of one of those players after an official inquiry was made by his former school. Sources told the Tribune that player is Ingram, a 6-foot-5 guard who has become a key reserve for the Wolverines.

Leo president Dan McGrath told the Tribune his school also expressed concerns about the transfers of Woods and Moore in a letter to the IHSA and CPS, but he still signed off on their moves.

"Transferring didn't start when I started coaching," said Simeon coach Robert Smith, who declined to comment about Ingram. "I don't have a problem with it. These are teenagers, and sometimes the parents just don't know. What they think is good (at first) might not be good."

CPS administrators said that among the CPS transfers this school year, an estimated 30-40 percent were declared ineligible, including two groups of football players who transferred en masse. The IHSA said its ruling on the Simeon player could come as soon as this week.

If a school does not concur with a transfer, the IHSA or the Public League (if it is to Chicago Public Schools) will investigate the evidence provided and make a ruling.

Danville athletic director B.J. Luke said his school did not concur with Ingram's transfer.

'The level playing field'

Luke, formerly the football coach at Waubonsie Valley, declined to comment about Ingram's case specifically, but he spoke generally about transfers, which he classified as a problem in Illinois.

He said if parents decide to move into a new school district, even for athletic reasons, he doesn't have a problem if they abide by the rules and the former school signs off on it.

He does have a problem with schools that try to recruit his teams' players.

"We're going to be vigilant when it comes to protecting our kids and our school and the ability to play on the level playing field," Luke said. "If (Chicago-area schools) want to cannibalize each other and have players change from school to school to school, I don't care.

"We're excited about playing those guys, but don't come down and poach our kids is the thing we want to make sure."

Third-ranked Simeon isn't the only high-profile program to receive transfers. No. 1 Young welcomed guards L.J. Peak and Ausar Madison, and No. 2 Morgan Park received Kyle Davis and Markee Williams. But the moves to Simeon might create more buzz than those to programs without its history of success.

'We don't have to recruit'

McGrath said in an ESPNChicago.com story in August he felt Woods and Moore were recruited by Simeon, a violation of IHSA and CPS rules.

"We could have contested it, could have dragged it out," McGrath said. "We didn't want to prevent them from playing their senior year. I wish them well and let it go at that."

McGrath said he still doesn't know why Woods and Moore left Leo, but he has decided to drop the issue.

"I had 50 conversations with Sean Moore's dad when he was here, and he didn't have the decency to return my call to tell me why they're leaving," McGrath said.

Smith said his program doesn't recruit and said he hadn't seen the transfers play before they arrived. He said he doesn't contest transfers from his program because he believes families have the right to change their minds.

He said Simeon's draws include a safe school environment but also acknowledged its athletics appeal.

"We win state. We don't have to (recruit)," Smith said. "If you look at basketball in the city of Chicago and almost the state of Illinois, this school has been on top since the 70s. It has not broken down. … The Ben Wilsons, the Derrick Roses and the Deon Thomases bring these kids here. That's why they come here. They want to be the next one of them."

Reasons to move

For all of the players, the moves represent significant changes off the court and on, where they join a cast of players looking to win their fourth consecutive Class 4A championship.

All four were likely to have been starters — if not stars — at their former schools. Woods, a 6-7 forward, is the only of Simeon's transfers to start regularly this season. Moore, a 6-2 guard, and Hillsman, a 6-5 forward, have seen more limited action.

Woods accepts a more complimentary role.

"The focus isn't just on me. It's on all of us," Woods said. "I'd rather be on a good team and win instead of having to go out and score 30 and still take a loss."

But the players and their families said it's not only about basketball.

Sean Moore Sr. said Woods and Moore transferred for financial purposes. Woods added he was having academic problems at Leo.

Donald Ingram, Donte's father, said he was in the process of moving his family from Danville because of safety concerns.

Shawn Hampton, Hillsman's stepfather, said he moved to Chicago for a pharmaceutical sales job. The family was looking for a new fit for Hillsman after several administrative and coaching changes at St. Thomas More. Hillsman and Ingram are former AAU teammates.

"It's been a drastic change, but it's about those who are invested in Jaycee's doing what he needs to do," Hampton said. "The coaches here are invested. The teachers here are invested. He instantly felt like he was loved."

Going from a mostly small private school in Champaign to a public school on Chicago's South Side has been a bit of a culture shock for Hillsman, who said his life changes include less time outdoors because of city violence.

"It's a lot different from going to a school that was really, really structured, and here it's more relaxed," said Hillsman, who added the honors classes he takes are challenging. "I have more room to mess up, but my coaches and my parents stay on me.

"My stepdad keeps me in line all the time, talks to me constantly, keeps me level-headed."

According to the family: Sean Moore Sr. said Woods and Moore transferred after their families received tuition bills of more than $5,000 each for their junior years that they didn't know about until the summer. He said they had received more aid up until that point. Leo president Dan McGrath said every family pays on a monthly basis and that it was "disingenuous" to say it was the first time they received a bill.

He said it: "All of the sudden we get hit with a bill for their entire junior year. … I'm 90 percent sure he would have been there (if not for the bill). I'm Sean's only financial backing. That's a lot for me." — Moore Sr.

Russell Woods

Sr., 6-7, F, transferred from Leo.

According to the family: Woods asked that Moore Sr. speak for his transfer circumstances, but he added that he was having academic problems at Leo and wasn't sure he would graduate.

He said it: "Coach Rob (Smith) took the time to talk to all of my teachers and let them know my situation and let them know I'm a good kid and I really want to graduate. He has me doing tutoring to help build my GPA and get a better score on my ACT." — Woods.

Donte Ingram

Jr., 6-5, G, transferred from Danville.

According to the family: Donald Ingram said he is in the process of moving his family from Danville to Chicago because of safety concerns and said he has established a residence in the city. He said they wanted to get their son settled into his junior year, and so Donte temporarily resided with a guardian. He said they looked at several schools for Donte and stressed that his family puts education first.

He said it: "It's about a downstate family, and about a man doing the best thing for his family. … We're going to put our family in a position to be safe." — Donald Ingram.

Jaycee Hillsman

Jr., 6-5, F, transferred from Champaign St. Thomas More.

According to the family: Hillsman moved with his stepfather, Shawn Hampton, who took a job in the area. Hampton's wife and Hillsman's mother, Simone, still lives in Champaign, where she works as a physician. After St. Thomas More had several administrative and coaching changes, the family considered sending Hillsman to Hope Academy in Chicago or to prep schools on the East Coast, but Hampton said he thought coaches and teachers at Simeon cared about Hillsman's future.

He said it: "I've seen programs that have a total of three coaches, and you may never get all three of them in the gym at the same time. Consistently, I saw seven, eight, nine coaches just around, invested in the kids. … I knew that having that many positive males in his life telling him the same thing, it would eventually get through." — Hampton.

Transfer rules

Many rules govern transfers, but here are a few key points.

• Recruiting for athletic purposes is against IHSA rules.

• A move from one school district to another must coincide with a family's relocation or a change in guardianship for a player to be eligible. Transfers from private and non-boundaried schools are an exception.

• An IHSA by-law that will be enacted next school year says if a transfer is not accompanied by a family move, then proof is needed of either a change in the family's financial position or extenuating circumstances.